Cards advance to NFC Title Game

The Cardinals welcomed perennial powerhouse Green Bay to the desert for their divisional matchup. After losing their previous 2 matchups on late scores engineered by Aaron Rodgers the Cardinals knew they could hang with the powerhouse Packers, they just needed to make smarterdecisions and reduce turnovers.

Green Bay would win the toss and elect to kick. In only his 2nd postseason game, QB Jason Merian would show his nerves early as he misread the defense and threw a pick to MLB Desmond Bishop on only their 3rd play from scrimmage giving the Packers the ball deep in Cards territory. Rodgers would waste no time as the Packers scored quickly on a strike to TE Evan Rodriguez. Usually, Merian would let the early interception affect him but he came right back and found TE Tony Moeaki for a catch and run of about 80 yards to tie the game right at 7 giving the Cards back momentum. The Cardinals would score 14 more unanswered points thanks to a run by Ryan Williams and a pass to Terrance King to give them a 21-7 lead. Down but not out Aaron Rodgers would respond by threading the needle on a pass to the slot wr to get them to within 7 after he outran all defenders to make it 21-14.Luckily for the Cards, this game would end differently than the other 2. The Cards would tack on 17 more points thanks to 2 more runs by Ryan Williams and a field goal. The Pack would add 2 more scores on Rodgers throws but could never get over the hump to tie the game and a late interception by CB Jayvon Parker would end any hopes of another late rally by Rodgers.